26 ❙ WATTPoultryUSA
Responsible
use in poultry
rather than
antibiotic-free
Dr. Peter Spring, of the Bern
University of Applied Sciences,
said striving for responsible
antibiotic use may be a better
strategy than going 100 percent
antibiotic-free.
BY AUSTIN ALONZO
With its decade-old ban on growth-promoting antibiotics, the European experience may provide some insights
for American poultry producers ahead of the imposition
of the United States' own rule changes on antibiotic use.
Dr. Peter Spring, head of Bern University of
Applied Sciences' Centre for Food Systems in Bern,
Switzerland, shared the European perspective on
antibiotics in broiler production during the Poultry
Science Association's annual meeting in New Orleans,
Louisiana, in July.
Spring offered three key takeaways for U.S. farmers: There will be a learning curve removing growthpromoting antibiotics but it is surmountable; good antibiotic use and resistance monitoring treatment must be
put in place to see how reducing antibiotic use affects
antimicrobial resistance; and producers should avoid
splitting their product lines between antibiotic-free and
treated birds, but rather focus on the concept of responsible antibiotic use.
Responsible antibiotic use
Spring said he does not like the term antibioticfree and instead prefers that producers strive to be
responsible users of antibiotics. In Europe, it's clear
that antibiotic-growth promoters are not coming back,
but antibiotics still play a role in animal health and
sustainable farming.
In Europe, he said, producers don't go 100 percent
antibiotic-free. Instead, they try to use the least amount
of antibiotics possible in production. While American
producers have already responded to demand for
antibiotic-free products by splitting their production
lines between antibiotic-free and conventionally raised
birds, European producers do not do this because, if a
product is marketed as antibiotic-free, the producer may
have a hard time finding a way to make use of the birds
that are treated. Producing those birds without a way to
make use of them would be immoral, he said, and U.S.
producers might find themselves in trouble in the future
if the market for treated birds continues to shrink.
ANIMAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS WILL continue
to be pushed to minimize antibiotic treatments.
www.WATTAgNet.com ❙ November 2016

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